


Remarkable

by hope27



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-27
Updated: 2013-06-27
Packaged: 2017-12-16 07:37:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/859563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hope27/pseuds/hope27
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oliver begins to realize just how remarkable Felicity is as she prepares to go out in the field for the first time to catch a rogue art dealer.  Note: Written before the episode "Dodger" aired.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Remarkable

**Author's Note:**

> So when I saw the new promo photos for episode 1x15, especially the edits by bjhunnicutts.tumblr.com, I just had to write something. Sorry for any mistakes and the few tense changes, it just had to be done at one point to make sense.

He’d noticed her before, of course. He was a young, virile man, after all. He’d been intrigued by her from the start. At first glance, she had seemed like any other girl who in high school would have been classified as a geek. She always had her dark rimmed glasses on with her hair pulled tight in a ponytail, and her lips a bright vibrant pink that drew his attention to her mouth time and time again. 

She wasn’t his type - at least, not before the island. Then, he’d been the popular playboy with time and money to burn. Girls flocked to him. And, as ashamed as he was now to admit it, he wouldn’t have given her a second look back then. He might have sought her out if he needed help, but it would have been a limited interaction.

Interestingly enough, that’s how it started out this time. He'd gone to her for help with a bullet-ridden laptop after learning she was considered the best at the company. But the moment she started talking, her pink lips moving a mile a minute as she rambled on about something he didn’t understand, and the looks she gave him every time he brought her another job with a ridiculous excuse, made him realize she was different from the other women he knew. And he was drawn to her. Unlike almost everyone else he knew in Starling City, she hadn’t known him before the island, and she didn’t seem to care about his reputation from that time. It was nice to not have to try to live up to that reputation with her. He could be himself, and not act in the shadow of his former self.

He’d called her remarkable. And he meant it. There wasn’t anyone better in her skill set in the city, or state, for that matter. He’d checked.

But he was learning she was remarkable in more ways than just her computer skills. 

She always seemed to greet him with a smile, and when she really smiled, he noticed her eyes lit up and he found himself wondering what she sounded like when she laughed. She didn’t ask questions, even though she had every right to. He knew she’d caught on to his lies far before she found out the truth, yet still she helped him.

And then she had found out the truth. When a lot of people would have turn around and run, she had helped him. Drove him to his office in the warehouse district and helped save his life.

Felicity Smoak had turned into one of the few people in Starling City that he could trust. And Oliver Queen did not trust easily.

Diggle had been resistant to the idea of her knowing his secret at first. But he’d slowly come around once he realized how much help she could be to their cause. Felicity also had her own concerns and, as of this point, had only agreed to help them until they found out what happened to Walter. But with every day, the three of them felt more and more like a team. They worked well together, and even Diggle had admitted that having her around proved to be useful. Although, he imagined it had something to do with the fact that Felicity usually ended up on his side of the argument, trying to talk him out of doing something they deemed reckless.

Regardless, they worked.

And, now, she’d proved how remarkable she was once more.

They needed her tonight to go undercover, and make contact with another person on the list who was posing as an art dealer. When Diggle had broached the idea, Oliver had initially bristled, not wanting to put Felicity in harms way. But she’d spoken up and silenced their bickering, _wanting_ to help.

That’s how they got here, to this moment, when she walked into the office and down the stairs at the old Queen warehouse. He couldn’t help but stare. She looked different, not worse, not better, just different and not how Oliver had ever seen her.

She wore a dress of black and gold, fitted well to her body. Her hair was down, cascading in waves around her shoulders. Her glasses were gone, replaced with contacts she stated she hated wearing because they got dry when she stared at the computer all day long.

She noticed his gaze, and immediately lowered her face and reached up as if to push her glasses up on her nose only to find they weren’t there. It was then that he realized he missed the glasses. Unsure of what to do with her hand, she simply cleared her throat and clasped the gold purse she carried with both hands and looked back at him.

"Is something wrong? Am I not dressed right? This is what Mr. Diggle dropped off for me. Although, I have no idea how he knew my size, but I don’t think I really want to. He doesn’t really seem like the shopping type, but I guess you never know. I had a friend once who…"

She’d began to ramble, her thoughts stringing together like a train and he knew he needed to stop her. “Felicity," he interrupted her, his voice coming out lower than he intended.

He saw her jump slightly as if forgetting he was there. But she smiled up at him a second later, her cheeks turning a light pink.

"You look beautiful," he stated, never taking his eyes off her face. He was glad his voice sounded more normal that time.

Seemingly struck speechless by his comment, she stared at him, tilting her head to the side as if studying him. Now it was Oliver’s turn to become uncomfortable. She had a way of reading him, at times, that made him uneasy. And she wasn’t afraid to call him on things. He’d learned that early on in their partnership as he lay on the table, a bullet just taken out of his shoulder.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" she finally asked, voice wavering in the silence between them.

He glanced up at her, noting the crease in her forehead as she frowned. “What if someone recognizes me?"

And then she laughed. And he found himself grinning as well. “What?"

"I just realized what I said. The last time I went out looking like this was…never." Her smile faltered for just a second before she straightened her shoulders and walked over to her computer.

"Everything is set up, right? I’ll just double check that we have the mics online…"

He’d seen the brief flash of sadness that had crossed her face a moment earlier when she realized she'd realized what she just admitted with her comment. Oliver decided to tuck that piece of information away for another time.

Carefully, he walked over to her and effectively invaded her personal space, turning her around to her many protests. “What are you doing? I need to finish this…"

"You’ve checked them five times already, Felicity," he told her sternly, hands on her upper arms as he caught her gaze. “You are going to be amazing tonight. And people are going to notice you. But not because they recognize you as Felicity Smoak from the IT department at Queen Consolidated, but because you are going to be one of the most gorgeous women in the room."

"Yeah, because I look nothing like myself," she whispered, her hand raising to smooth through her hair.

Oliver frowned at her words, raising an eyebrow at her. “No. Because you are confident, and you do whatever you put your mind to. I haven’t know you that long, but I do know that you don’t give up, and there is a reason I kept coming back to you with jobs, and why Walter asked you to look in to things for him. Because you get the job done, and you do it well. Tonight is no different."

Oliver felt her skin heat up at his words, and before he knew it, she was hugging him. In the months since he’d returned from the island, only his family (and Laurel, once,) had initiated contact with him. And if they knew what he really was, he wondered if they’d still do that. It was unexpected to say the least, especially since she knew about his double life. In the week after she'd learned the truth, she’d spent most of her time keeping her distance and jumping any time he came within feet of her.

It took a few seconds before he finally reacted, cautiously wrapping his arms around her, but by that time Felicity was already backing away, a startled expression on her face.

"Sorry," she blurted out. “Sometimes I don’t think before I speak…and act…"

"It’s…"

"Time to go," Diggle said coming down the steps and grabbing his gun and coat from one of the tables.

Oliver watched as Felicity set her shoulders and nodded her head, giving him one last glance before striding out of the office, leaving Diggle to raise his eyebrows at him in question. Oliver just shook his head before grabbing his own suit jacket and following her, Diggle close behind.

Remarkable. Felicity Smoak was definitely that. And Oliver had a feeling he was only going to learn more remarkable things about her the longer he knew her. And somewhere deep inside, he realized he couldn’t wait.


End file.
